On Thursday in the Mixoloseum chat room, the theme was beer cocktails and the energy level was rather high. Perhaps because beer is such a fun cocktail ingredient to play with as it imparts a wide variety of malt, roast, floral, bitter, sour, and funky notes depending on what style is utilized. And perhaps because this Thursday Drink Night was a few days before the Mixology Monday: Beer event and some of the participants wanted to craft a recipe for that. Here are some fine examples of the drinks that were made last week:

KeithP of the Speakista started things off with the Mambo No. 5 using a stout float for both carbonating and adding a rich malty note to complement the sherry and Meletti amaro. I found it interesting that Keith utilized a double gin style base akin to what is often done in the rum world, and their botanicals probably complement most stouts’ hops rather well.
Mambo No.5
• 1 1/2 oz Old Tom Gin
• 1 oz London Dry Gin
• 1/2 oz Solera Sherry
• 1/2 oz Meletti
• 1 tsp Rich Simple Syrup (2:1)
Prepare the drink Julep-style with crushed ice, top with 2 oz of stout, and add a straw.

Ed of the Wordsmithing Pantagruel blog contributed a few good recipes to this event. The one I liked the most was the Bruges Sling that complemented a cherry Lambic beer with fruit notes from lemon juice, Grand Marnier, and orange bitters and spice notes from Bénédictine, Angostura, and gin. While your garden might not have pineapple sage and pineapple mint like Ed’s, perhaps a nice regular mint sprig would do the job in a pinch! Read about his other drinks of the night on his post.

Bruges Sling
• 2 oz Gin
• 1/2 oz Bénédictine
• 1/4 oz Grand Marnier
• 1 oz Lemon Juice
• 2 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters
• 2 dash Angostura Bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a tall glass. Top with 2 1/2 oz Kriek Lambic. Garnish with a sprig each of pineapple sage and pineapple mint and add a lemon wedge.

Dan Chadwick of Kindred Cocktails brought together the magical combination of Scotch and Cynar and lightened the drink with a bit of pale ale. Between the malt notes of the beer working with the Scotch and the hops complementing the Cynar botanical notes, the pale ale far exceeds what soda water could have done to this recipe.
Choke Let Malt
• 1 oz Scotch
• 1 oz Cynar
• 1 dash Aromatic Bitters
Build on ice in a rocks or highball glass. Top with 2 oz dry pale ale.

A Drinker’s Peace was another multiple drink contributor that night. My favorite was his Rosehops which couples floral notes from hibiscus syrup and Bittermens Burlesque Bitters with hops notes from hopped bitters and Indian Pale Ale. The aroma of the grapefruit garnish does a fine job preparing the tongue for the IPA and other ingredients. Perhaps using Hendrick’s, Berkshire’s Ethereal, or North Shore for the gin might even tie in some bonus floral elements.
Rosehops
• 1 oz Gin
• 1 oz Lillet
• 1 tsp Hibiscus Syrup
• 6 drop Bittermens Burlesque Bitters
• 1 tsp Aromatic Hop Bitters (sub Bittermens Grapefruit)
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with IPA beer and garnish with a grapefruit slice.

Sunny and Rummy also used the funky and fruit notes of a Lambic, except that he chose an apple instead of a cherry one. Spice notes from ginger liqueur and rich ones from Cognac and maple syrup round out his take on the classic French 75 champagne cocktail.
Flemish 75
• 1 1/2 oz Cognac
• 1/2 oz Domaine de Canton
• 1/4 oz Maple Syrup
Shake with ice and strain into a champagne flute. Top Lindeman’s Pomme Lambic.

Finally, Zach Pearson presented a few drinks. The one I liked the best was the Black and Mild that utilized Compass Box’s Orangerie for some smoke, malt, and fruit peel flavors to tie together the orange juice and dark beer elements in the drink. A little richness and strength from Cognac and spice from Boker’s Bitters, and the Black and Mild seems like a tasty treat!
The Black and Mild
• 1 oz Cognac
• 3/4 oz Compass Box Orangerie
• 1/2 oz Orange Juice
• 1 dash Boker’s Bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a highball glass. Top with 4oz Jester King Commercial Suicide (or another dark, English mild).

Go see the rest of the drinks on the Mixoloseum Twitter including recipes from TDN alums Dr. Bamboo, SeanMike (a/k/a HighwayStar), and myself (Frederic of CocktailVirgin). And check the Mixology Monday: Beer wrap up post later in the week (perhaps by Wednesday night or Thursday) on CocktailVirgin.

He waved the man away and turned to Charles Mason. “Now, my young buck,” he said, “I have ten shillings here that say I can beat you at your favorite game of billiards. Want to bet? Of course you do. Well, let’s go down to the Merchant’s Coffeehouse and try our skill. And before we start to play I’ll treat you to a rum fustian.”

“Rum fustian I May I inquire what that is?”

“Oh, I forgot that you are from the benighted land of Virginia, where your favorite drink is eggnog or mint julep. A rum fustian, my dear sir, is made of beer, sherry, gin, the yolks of eggs, sugar and a little nutmeg all stirred together and heated with a red-hot loggerhead.”

Mason reflected a minute. “That sounds like a strong drink,” he said. “But why do they call it rum fustian when there’s no rum in it?”

“That’s where the fustian part comes in, my inquiring lad,” said the Major. “Fustian as you know means an imitation.” ¹

While flipping through Jerry Thomas’ How to Mix Drinks, or The Bon-vivant’s Companion, I came across a curious egg drink served hot, the Rumfustian, which as the bit of history above describes contains no rum at all. Thomas gave the history as “a drink very much in vogue with English sportsmen, after their return from a day’s shooting.” ² Histories across the web did not confirm the sportsmen lore, but suggested it was a drink of English university students, American colonial settlers, and pirates dating back to the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. The “rum” part of the name derives from the gypsy word for powerful, and evidence of its strength was written about in colonial America. There, the drink was often drank at breakfast and its consumption took a toll on the efficiency and character of the settlers.³

The recipe I used was from Thomas and I provide the volumes I used to make two servings in parentheses:

Rumfustian
• 12 Egg Yolks (2)
• 1 quart Beer (5 1/3 oz Mayflower Porter)
• 1 pint Gin (2 2/3 oz Beefeater)
• 1 bottle Sherry (4 oz Lustau Don Nuño Dry Oloroso)
• 1 stick Cinnamon (1/6)
• 1 Nutmeg (1/6)
• 12 large lump Sugar (2 tsp Turbinado)
• 1 rind Lemon Peel (1/6)
Heat sherry in a sauce pan with cinnamon, nutmeg (grated), sugar, and lemon peel. Mix egg yolks, beer, and gin. When sherry comes to a boil, pour (while straining) into bowl with the yolks, beer, and gin. Serve hot.

I mixed the yolk, gin, and beer in a cocktail shaker instead of whisking in a bowl (be careful to degas it every few shakes to save from making a mess as the beer decarbonates). I also left the shaker in a bowl of hot water to warm up the contents since it contained a larger volume than the hot sherry. In addition, I grated some nutmeg over the top of each cup before serving.
The beer I used from the Mayflower Brewery and was somewhat smokey; its flavors mainly came through on the first part of the sip. The cinnamon, nutmeg, and nutty sherry flavors then followed this initial malty wave. We debated whether or not we could taste the gin as it was rather well masked by the spices. Moreover, the egg yolk provided a thick, rich mouthfeel, but unlike egg white, it did not mute the drink to any degree. In addition, the Rumfustian was not as sweet as eggnog, or perhaps my interpretation of a “large lump” to be a teaspoons-worth of sugar fell short. Some might prefer this drink to be a bit sweeter so adjust accordingly. And interestingly, as the drink cooled, the spice notes diminished with the beer taking a greater prominence in the flavor profile.
Overall, the drink was pretty complex, heavy, and at first a bit bizarre. However, with successive sips, the drink grew on us and the taste became addictive. With the warmth and spice profile, I could see the Rumfustian being a great treat after coming in from the cold. And if Jerry Thomas’ lore is correct, it would most certainly help you to forget an unsuccessful day of hunting.

¹ Woodward, W.E. The Way Our People Lived: An Intimate American History. E.P. Dutton & Company, 1944.
² Thomas, J. How to Mix Drinks, or The Bon-vivant’s Companion. Dick & Fitzgerald, 1862.
³ History of Alcohol in America.

Cross-posted to the Cocktail Virgin blog.

No matter how much you love cocktails, it’s undisputed that beer is the official beverage of summer. And for good reason: portable, refreshing and trouble-free, you can take and drink beer pretty much anywhere with a minimum of fuss. It’s hard to think of a reason not to like beer. As the temperatures are warming up all over the northern hemisphere, we here at the Mixoloseum thought we’d recommend some refreshing summer beers to enjoy during barbeques, picnics, al fresco dinners or chilling by the pool.

Central and South American Beer
Everyone loves a light, crisp Mexican lager on a hot summer day but your options are not limited only to Corona!

• Carta Blanca – The ubiquitous light lager south of the border, Carta Blanca is great on its own, with a squeeze of lime or mixed in a michelada.
• Model Especial – Another hugely popular light lager, Modelo Especial is a bit lighter than Carta Blanca and thus tastes better on its own or with lime than it does in a michelada.
• Negra Modelo – A nutty, dark brown Vienna lager, this is the best Modelo out there. If you like a bit more bite to your beer or just want something with some oomph, grab one of these.
• Quilmes – Very light but very, very refreshing, Quilmes is an Argentine lager that has been brewed in the country since the late 1800s. It’s getting easier to find and I highly recommend it, particularly if you are having a barbeque.

Fruit Beers
There are a ton of fruited beers out there these days, but something about the crisp-tart of apple in a beer really says summer.

• Éphémère – A white ale brewed with apple must (cider), this is the lightest of the three and definitely well-suited for people who aren’t usually big beer drinkers. The taste is light, tart and pleasant while the body of the beer is very refreshing.
• Floris Apple – An Belgian apple lambic, Floris is sweeter than a cider though it still maintains a pleasantly dry, refreshing character with a strong apple flavor.
• Samuel Smith’s Organic Cider – Being something of a cider fiend, it is no small thing to say that this is my favorite cider. Dry and tart without being too much of either, it has a lovely body and nice, smooth finish.

Witbier / Wheat Beer / White Beer / Bière Blanche
A beer of many names, witbier is a Belgian white ale brewed from wheat and frequently flavored with coriander and orange peel.

• Allagash White – Belgian-style but brewed in Maine, Allagash White is one of my favorite American white beers. Though delicious, they can be a bit heavy on occasion due to the wheat component but Allagash is clean, crisp and wonderful on a hot day.
• Blanche de Chambly – From Unibroue, the Quebec-based producers of Éphémère, Blanche de Chambly is a classic light witbier. The spice component is rather subdued but very pleasant and it shows well next to Éphémère.
• Mothership Wit – From New Belgium, the Colorado-based brewery known for Fat Tire, Mothership Wit is an organic, sustainable and flavorful white beer. Heavy on the spice and orange, it rocks with or without food and perks up brilliantly with the addition of a slice of orange or lemon.
• Shiner Hefeweizen – Oh yes! Hefeweizen is also a wheat beer. Though there are many amazing German hefs out there, my favorite domestic is the one out of Shiner, TX. It has just the right amount of crispness to balance the weight of the beer—wouldn’t want anyone to think they were drinking a light beer—it’s stupendous ice cold straight out of the cooler. Orange slice optional.
• Wittekerke – A German white beer, Wittekerke has the coriander and orange flavors common to witbier with a nice light body, and it is easy to find in excursion-friendly cans.